


Well, This Wasn't What I Expected

by OtakusUnite



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: AU where all the monsters are no bigger than 30 cm, F/F, F/M, Fluff, M/M, Mentions of neglect, Other, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Reader Is Frisk, Selectively Mute Frisk, Sign Language, Tinytale AU, basically everyone - Freeform, but not really a reader insert, mentions of abuse, no geno but mentions of other timelines, possible angst (i can't help myself)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-03-09
Updated: 2016-05-30
Packaged: 2018-05-25 17:08:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 13,233
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6203773
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OtakusUnite/pseuds/OtakusUnite
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Everyone had heard the tales of the mountain before. About the war and the banished monsters. How “legends say that those who climb the mountain never return."<br/>But you were curious, and landed yourself in a world where nothing is as it seems.<br/>What could go wrong?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Down the rabbit hole

Everyone had heard the tales of the mountain before. How there was a war between monster and humans. How the humans won brutally. How a magic barrier sealed the monsters in the mountain. The children can’t help but be curious. Do these monsters still exist? What are they like? What does the mountain look like?

But parents always tell them the last line, that quells most curiosity the children hold.

_“Legends say that those who climb the mountain never return.”_

However, this doesn’t stop all children from not going up there. Most blame curiosity, but who knows the true reasons.

* * *

 

There was a small village at the base of Mt Ebott. Everybody there knew of the legends of the mountains, and taught the war at the school, but from the human perspective where monsters were the bad guys.

They spun false truths of the monsters mind-controlling humans and murdering children while they slept, yet still attempted a peace treaty. And how they were the ones to start the war, all because they were greedy and wanted to control the land.

It didn’t help the racism lurking in the village when seven children had disappeared. Not all at once, but it was still frightening enough for blame to fall on the monsters for luring the children to the mountain.

Like the first child to go missing. Now you weren’t alive back then, by a good century or so, but it was a tale that the sisters told every week or so to warn the children of the dangers. Of how a child was found dead in a monster’s arms as they came back to the village, and returned back to the underground with the mortally wounded child. Of how the same fate was laid upon the other children who went missing.

The other children were often quite afraid once told this tale, and listened to the sister’s every word. But not you. You were all to aware the truth behind human nature, and that even though all evidence can turn the monsters into, well, monsters, you knew that humans could also be a ‘monster’ if they wanted to be.

After all, you were fed lies most of your life, or otherwise ignored, despite the villagers constantly thinking that there was nothing wrong with a child being starved or locked in a dark stuffy room for days on end. They always blamed you for that, saying that you were in the wrong, or that it was helping you become a better person.

But you knew that wasn’t true. There was no physical evidence, but you always had this voice in your head saying that it wasn’t right, that it wasn’t your fault.

Which was why you found yourself standing at the bottom of the mountain. You were determined to find out the truth about the monsters. Determined to prove the sisters wrong.

You climbed up the mountain, all thoughts on the journey that lay ahead of you. There were too many curious thoughts in your head. Mainly about the monsters, but also that tiny nagging voice saying that this was a bad idea and that you should go back to the sisters and other children. You shook your head to get rid of the voice. You knew they didn’t care about you, just another mouth to feed, and this solidified your reasoning as you finally reached the hole.

It was huge, bigger than any hole you’ve ever seen before. You could just see the edge on the other side, and you didn’t even try to see the bottom, though that didn’t stop you from peaking over. An involuntary flinch came over you at how deep it was. Subconsciously taking a step back, you failed to not the weakened earth beneath your feet, until it gave way.

You let a silent gasp as you tipped towards the hole and fell like a rock being dropped into water. Shutting your eyes in fear, you felt the air rush past you as you fell into the never ending tunnel.

However, as you had your eyes shut you failed to notice passing through a faint shimmering halfway down the hole, and the floor quickly rising up meet you. Landing with a painful thud, you let out a cry of pain before everything went black.

* * *

 

You let out a moan of pain as you slowly opened your eyes. Wincing at the throb in your head and ankle, you slowly sat up, wondering how you weren’t dead. Feeling something soft underneath you, you look down, only for your eyes to widen as the golden flowers surrounding you. You gently brushed one’s petal before fulling taking in the room. It was a round cavern, and you could see a tiny dot of light at the top of the hole.

With a struggle you stood up, grabbing a hold of a stick that you spotted, and used that to help you balance against your sore ankle. You spotted a path to your right and curiosity controlling your actions, headed towards it, only to see a heavy looking door in your way.

Taking a deep breath, you pushed it open, it opening with surprising ease as you took your first steps into this new world.


	2. Looks can be deceiving

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You meet a monster for the first time, and to be honest, you're not whether to be happy or cry.

You look around this new cavern. There was a single beam of light making it difficult for you to see the path from where you were to the next exit. You wondered if you were going to see any monsters soon. You couldn’t help your curiosity.

As you walked closer to the beam of light, a small but somehow loud voice broke the silence. “Howdy!”

You start a bit before looking to see where the voice came from. “Down here!”

You look down before stumbling backwards in shock. Right by your feet was a flower. It was no bigger than your foot, and you had to kneel down to get a better look at it. But what was the real shock was the smiling face looking up at you. “Howdy! Sorry, I scared you!”

You waved in response, but as a greeting and saying that it was ok. The flower’s smile grew wider. “I’m Flowey. Flowey the Flower! Hmmm…”

You tilted your head, wondering why he drifted off. Flowey shook his head and continued to smile up at you. “You're new to the UNDERGROUND, aren'tcha?”

You responded with a nod. Flowey let out a faint gasp. “Golly, you must be so confused. Someone ought to teach you how things work around here! I guess little old me will have to do.”

Alarm bells started ringing in your head, as this is always what the bigger kids would say before they beat you up, but you ignored it, curiosity overwhelming your instinct. Flowey looked up at you as if waiting for a response, to which you nodded. He smiled wider. “Ready? Here we go!”

Your vision went black before a red glow in front of you caought your attention. A small red heart floated in the middle of a white box. You noticed that it wasn’t your vision that went black, but the world around you. Drawing your attention to your heart, you saw Flowey standing across from you. He noticed your confusion. “See that heart? That is your SOUL, the very culmination of your being!”

Your eyes went back to the heart. You’ve heard the sisters saying that everyone had a soul, but you always thought that it was just a story they’d tell children to make sure they stay good and true. But to know that your own soul, a part of you, was standing out in the open gave you an empty feeling, like it wasn’t supposed to be out there, that it was meant to stay inside of you.

Flowey didn’t notice your distraction and continued talking. “Your SOUL starts off weak, but can grow strong if you gain a lot of LV.”

You looked up at that. You had heard of video games from the older kids, and they’d brag if there were a stronger level than another. Was this world similar to that of a video game? Flowey began to sway a bit. “What's LV stand for? Why, LOVE, of course! You want some LOVE, don't you?”

You nodded before you realised you did. You couldn’t help yourself, love wasn’t something that was ever offered to your. Care, yes. Love, not so much. Where you came from, love had to be earned, and you apparently weren’t very worthy of it. Flowey smiled wider. “Down here, LOVE is shared through...Little white... _ friendliness pellets _ . Are you ready?”

You nodded and five little pellets, though they looked more like bullets, hovered above Flowey’s head. You felt your nerves creep back up, but instead of ignoring them you decided to listen to them this time. The flower’s never ending grin began to freak you out, and you were a little too reminded of your father. “Move around! Get as many as you can!”

The pellets came at you quickly, something you weren’t expecting. Maybe because it was because you were used to things being thrown at you or dodging attacks from the older children, but you somehow managed to avoid all the pellets Flowey sent to your soul. You were kinda surprised that it followed your instinctive dodge, but were glad at the same time. You looked back towards Flowey and noticed that his smile became a bit more tense. “Hey buddy, you missed them. Let's try again, okay?”

You dodged as more pellets came towards you. Flowey’s smile fell completely, and you were glad that you had stopped trusting him in the end. “Is this a joke? Are you braindead? RUN. INTO. THE. BULLETS!!!...I mean friendliness pellets.”

Narrowing your eyes, you dodged the next wave of bullets. Feeling slightly out of breath, you looked back up at Flowey, only flinch away at the manical look that took over his face. Despite all that you’ve seen, that is the first time you have ever experienced a look like that, and honestly, it made you want to run away. And for it to come from a tiny flower, it somehow only made it scarier. “You know what's going on here, don't you?"

You shook your head desperately. You were regret ever coming to the mountain now, every bone in your body telling you to get away from the flower. But Flowey seemed to ignore your silent pleas. “You just wanted to see me suffer.”

You shook as you resorted to signing no furiously, trying to plead with him. It was to no avail, as a ring of bullets surrounding your soul, leaving no room for escape. Flowey began to cackle loudly as the bullets slowly closed in on your soul. “ **Die.** ”

You clsoed your eyes and wrapped your arms around yourself, waiting for the pain to come. However it didn’t. You felt a small warmth and heard Flowey let out a screech of pain. A kind and motherly voice filled the air. “What a terrible creature, torturing such a poor, innocent youth…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New Chapter (that nearly didn't happen because of my laziness)  
> Player gets introduced to their first monster, an innocent looking flower with a heart of pure evil. I tried to keep it as close as I could to the dialogue from the game.  
> Hope you enjoy it, and don't be afraid to leave a comment


	3. This place is bigger than you thought

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A mum-like goat woman saved the day, and teaches you how life in the Ruins works. Which is weird cause she's still smaller than you.

The world was still black around you, as you looked around desperately for the source of the voice. Someone cleared their throat, and you looked down, afraid that it was Flowey again. However, it wasn’t, and your eyes met ones that filled with a motherly warmth that you hadn’t seen in a long time.

A small goat like creature, though standing on two feet, was in front of you. They were much bigger than the flower, but still only came up to just below your knee. You sat down, the exhaustion of the previous events catching up with you, but kept up your wary expression. The creature, donned in purple robes, noticed and gave you a kind smile. “Ah, do not be afraid, my child. I am Toriel, caretaker of the Ruins.”

You felt a nostalgic warmth when she called you ‘my child’. It was something that you hadn’t heard in a long time, and sent pangs of longing straight to your heart. You gave her a small smile, you couldn’t help it. Toriel’s smile got wider as she continued her introduction. “I pass through this place every day to see if anyone has fallen down. You are the first human to come here in a long time.”

You tilted your head. You hadn’t realized it had been that long since the last human fell. Maybe time was different for monsters underground, you weren’t sure. But it made you think that if it had been that long since the other humans had fallen, then maybe monsters would be more angry or scared, because what they were used to was to suddenly changed, making you hesitant to go further. Toriel didn’t seem to notice your conflicted expression. “Come! I will guide you through the catacombs.”

The black that had surrounded you slowly faded back into the cavern you had first met Flowey in. The goat monster started to walk towards the exit, and you followed. For a creature so small, she could was just as fast as you. “This way.”

You walked through a small archway into a larger room. At the end there were two staircases that lead to another room. On the ground in between the two stair cases was a carpet of red leaves. You saw something shining on it and went towards it, curious. A small star was hovering on the spot, twinkling like sunlight. As you touched it, you felt a tingle run through your body, like pins and needles, that made you feel determined. You noticed that Toriel had gone ahead and you quickly went to catch up with her, being careful of your sore ankle.

She was waiting for you at the next archway, and smiled when she saw you approach. She lead you into the next room. You noticed to the right there were six stepping stones of sorts and a yellow switch on the wall next to another archway, though this time with spikes blocking the entrance.

You were curious, but just as you were about to ask what they were, Toriel spoke up. “Welcome to your new home, innocent one.”

You kneeled to her level, which she seemed to appreciate. She kept her warm smile as she continued to talk. “Allow me to educate you in the operation of the Ruins,” she spoke before walking over four of the, what you now realized to be, pressure plates before somehow clicking the switch on the wall, causing the spikes to sink into the floor. She must of used magic, since you doubted you could even reach them without stretching. “The Ruins are full of puzzles. Ancient fusions between diversions and door-keys. One must solve them to move from room to room. Please adjust yourself to the sight of them.”

Toriel started walking to the next room, with you following behind her. This room was much bigger, and from what you could see there were small canals of water bridging the width of the room, flowing under the walls. Toriel stopped not far into the room and turned to you. “To make progress here, you will need to trigger several switches. Do not worry, I have labelled the ones that you need to flip.”

She walked off, and waited at the second bridge. You noticed a sign, but didn’t bother to read it. You crossed the first bridge carefully, not sure about its stability, but found it to be very secure. You noticed the first switch as well as some writing on the side. It read: ‘Please press this switch. - Toriel.’ You smiled faintly and stood on your tippy toes to press the switch. You went back to Toriel, who lead you to the next switch, except there were two. You assumed the one with all the yellow labelling was the one you were meant to press, so reaching up, you did. Hearing a clunk, you looked towards the spikes and let out an internal cheer when you saw that they were gone.

You looked over to Toriel who had a wide smile on her face. “Splendid! I am proud of you, little one. Let us move to the next room.”

You followed her into the next room, noticing the dummy near the exit. Toriel saw your glance. “As a human living in the Underground, monsters may attack you. You will need to be prepared for this situation. However, worry not! The process is simple. When you encounter a monster, you will enter a Fight. While you are in a Fight, strike up a friendly conversation. Stall for time. I will come to resolve the conflict. Practice talking to the dummy.”

She lead you over to the dummy. You looked at it curiously before your surroundings went black again, but this time instead of your soul being trapped in a box, you were given four options; FIGHT, ACT, ITEM or MERCY. Thinking back on Toriel’s words, you chose ACT, deciding to talk to the dummy. You waved and signed a greeting to the dummy. While it didn’t seem much for conversation, once the black faded away, you could see Toriel looking up at you happily. “Ah, very good! You are very good.”

She lead you to the next room, which had some weird path on the floor. You paid no attention to it as you listened to Toriel. She turned to you. “There is another puzzle in this room… I wonder if you can solve it?”

She lead you through the room, ignoring said path on the ground. You followed her, before your surroundings went black again. You looked around only to see a frog in front of you, except looking slightly different than the ones from the surface. As startling as its sudden appearance was, you could see on its face that it meant no harm. The options came up again, showing that its name was Froggit, you chose to ACT. Deciding to compliment the Froggit, because in all honestly it did look adorable, you signed a sweet message to it. It was clear that the small creature didn’t understand what you were saying by the tilt of it’s head, but the look on it’s face proved otherwise, as it seemed flattered anyways.

Suddenly you see Toriel come into the scene and give the Froggit the mum-stare. It slowly backed away as the world around you regained colour. Toriel continued walking forward as if nothing happened, and you followed her. You noticed a sign on the wall, but as it was too tall for you to be able to read properly, you left it alone.

Almost bumping into Toriel, you looked around her, only for your eyes to widen in surprise. It was a bridge covered in spikes, like what you had solved earlier. Looking down at the goat monster, you noticed the hesitation on her face. Obviously she wasn’t comfortable with letting you solve this puzzle, and while you were curious, you didn’t want to try it by yourself.

Toriel turned back to face you. “This is the puzzle, but… Here, take my hand for a moment.”

She took your hand (well, more your finger), and lead you across the spiked bridge in a weird pattern. You stayed close to her the whole time, afraid of straying off the path she was obviously leading you on. Once reaching the other end, she let go of your hand (finger) and looked up at you. “Puzzles seem a little too dangerous for now.”

She walked into the next room, with you following. This room was much bigger, and you couldn’t help but feel slightly intimidated by it. She was facing the entrance, and thus you, when you walked in. She smiled at you. “You have done excellently thus far, my child. However... I have a difficult request to ask of you. I would like you to walk to the end of the room by yourself. Forgive me for this.”

With that she walked to the other side of the room at a surprisingly fast speed, much faster than you. Being used to having to take care of yourself, you made your way to the end of the hallway, only for Toriel not to be there. You knew she was small, but you couldn’t have lost her already, could you?

That didn’t seem to be the case, as once you reached the end of the hallway, you hear shuffling from behind one of the pillars, as Toriel came out, walking over to you. She stood in front of you with a proud smile. “Greetings, my child. Do not worry, I did not leave you. I was merely behind this pillar the whole time. Thank you for trusting me. However, there was an important reason for this exercise.”

You tilted your head, curious as to what she was getting at. She noticed and explained further. “...to test your independence. I must attend to some business, and you must stay alone for a while. Please remain here. It's dangerous to explore by yourself.”

This shot a small bit of fear into you. Sure, you had encountered a monster before, but Toriel interrupted before anything could really progress. She must have sensed your slight fear and thought on the spot. “I have an idea. I will give you a Cell Phone. If you have a need for anything, just call. Be good, alright?”

You took the cellphone, which was somehow normal sized, and nodded, giving her a big smile. She smiled back before leaving the room. You made your way over to the pillar and sat down, leaning back against it. You could wait. Besides, she shouldn’t take that long, right?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one is quite wordy with lots of biggish chunks of writing? If people find that annoying, I apologize. Wasn't sure how to cut it down without leaving anything out.
> 
> Also realized I should probably proof-read my work.


	4. Casper is real

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You continued through the ruins, and learn a few things as you go.

Okay, maybe you had to wait a lot longer than you originally thought. You stretched your arms and got up, holding the column to steady yourself, your legs having fallen asleep for sitting for so long. You weren’t gonna deny you dozed off for a little bit, but being unable to tell the time down here without the sun had thrown off your body clock.

Looking around, you grabbed the phone that Toriel gave you and scrolled through it. You clicked Toriel’s number. Surprisingly, while it did ring, there was options you could choose from. You looked through them, ignoring the flirt option, your thumb hovering over the ‘call her mom’ option. You thought back on Toriel, the way she treated you, the aura she gave off. To you, she really did feel like a mom and you knew she would love to be your mom. You pressed the option and put the phone up to your ear.

You heard Toriel pick up the phone. “Huh? Did you just call me... Mom? Well... I suppose… Would that make you happy? To call me... Mother? Well then, call me whatever you like!”

She hung up, but you could hear how happy she was. You put the phone away, and decided to move forward. Who knows, maybe you could explore and still make it back to the spot before Toriel came back?

Walking into the next room, you noticed a Froggit standing by the entrance. Before you could go over to it, the phone rang. Answering it, you put it up to your ear, hearing Toriel’s voice from the end. “Hello? This is Toriel. You have not left the room, have you? There are a few puzzles ahead that I have yet to explain. It would be dangerous to try to solve them yourself. Be good, alright?”

She hung up before you could respond and you put the phone away. Going over to the Froggit, it noticed you and looked up. “Ribbit, ribbit. Ribbit.”

Your phone dinged and you looked down at it. A translation of what the Froggit said popped up, and you didn’t even try to question how those three sounds could turn into that long message. You read it intently anyways: [Excuse me, human. I have some advice for you about battling monsters. If you ACT a certain way or FIGHT until you almost defeat them… They might not want to battle you anymore. If a monster does not want to fight you, please… Use some MERCY, human.]

You looked back at the Froggit, but it seemed it had lost interest in you. Spotting a star similar to the one you saw before, you went over to it and touched it, feeling it was the right thing to do. A tingling feeling surged through your veins, making your determination to continue even stronger.

You saw an entrance to a room to your left, and cautiously walked towards it. It was a small room, with a podium in the middle with a dish on it. Going up to it, you noticed a note: ‘Take one.’ Looking into the bowl, you saw that there was candy inside. You took one, but no more. You knew the consequences of not following instructions, and you didn’t know if they were the same here as they were above ground.

Walking back out, you continued to follow the path. Noticing your surroundings going black again, you waited for what you had labelled as an encounter. A Froggit hopped into view. Going through the same process as you did before, you flinched back as an attack hit your soul. That’s right, Toriel intervened before the Froggit had responded. Dodging the attacks as best as you could, you noticed a small bar by your feet. You noticed it had depleted a little from full, so that must mean it was your health. Choosing ACT again, you noticed this time the Froggit’s name was in yellow. You tried complementing it again but it was came up with the same result. You looked through the other options and tried MERCY. There were two options, Spare or Flee. You noticed Spare was yellow, just like the Froggit’s name was, so going on a gut feeling you chose it. The encounter started fading out, but you noticed a small box saying you collected 0 EXP and 2 gold.

A little shaken at your first proper encounter, you continued forward. As you walked into the next room you let out a startled sound as you fell into the floor. WIncing at the pain from the landing, you looked up. Noticing it wasn’t a big fall, you felt lucky. Gingerly standing up, you looked around. You noticed there were two doorway like chutes, choosing the one on your right, which was the closer, you shut your eyes as a vacuum like forced pulled you back up to the ground level. Catching yourself on the wall, you looked behind you to see the entrance you had come through earlier before you fell. Looking forward you continued to walk into the next room.

Your phone went off again and you answered it. “Hello? This is Toriel. For no reason in particular... Which do you prefer? Cinnamon or butterscotch?”

Hearing a sound, you pulled the phone away from your ear, noticing how the two options Toriel gave you appeared on the screen. You giggled at the abbreviation it used for butterscotch, and chose that, considering you didn’t have much experience with either. Toriel’s voice came back through the speaker. “Oh, I see. Thank you very much!”

She hung up and you only took a few steps into the room before the phone rang again. Answering it, it was Toriel again. “You do not DISLIKE cinnamon, do you? I know what your preference is, but… Would you turn up your nose if you found it on your plate? Right, right, I understand. Thank you for being patient, by the way.”

The call ended and you put the phone away. And with that, you continued on. After walking through various puzzles, including one annoying rock and what you labelled as the path of caution (serious, who thought having a room of leaves with a hidden path underneath was a good idea? You could feel yourself bruising from the times you took a misstep and fell). Meeting other monsters was fun, especially since they were smaller than you, and the hope that the poor mouse would one day reach the cheese filled you with determination.

You reached the next room and noticed a small white thing in the middle of some red leaves. Walking closer to it, you noticed it was a ghost like creature. You crouched down, now being able to hear the ghost saying ‘zzzz’ repeatedly, obviously pretending to be asleep. You gave it a gentle poke, forcing the both of you into an encounter.

Text appears before you, introducing the creature as Napstablook. You chose to ACT, giving Napstablook a patient smile, hoping to comfort the sad-looking ghost. They gave a small happy sound in response. “Heh…”

Well, you weren’t expecting its attack to be its tears. While it saddened you, you couldn’t think of it for too long, the attacks were fast and hard to dodge. It was soon over, but you lost a few health. ACTing again, you told, well more signed, them a small joke. They seemed happier. “Heh heh…”

Instead of an attack, the words [really not feeling up to it right now. sorry] filled up the box that held your soul. You chose ACT once it was over, and was about to say something but looking up at Napstablook, you could see that they wanted to show you something. “Let me try…”

As they brought out more tears, you got ready for another attack, but was surprised when you noticed the tears floated to above their head, forming into a little hat. “I call it ‘Dapper Blook’. Do you like it…”

They looked up at you eagerly. Looking over the options once you decided to ACT, you chose to flirt, giving the poor ghost a flirty compliment. “Oh no…”

The encounter ended, and you were left in the crouching position you were in before hand. You looked at Napstablook, who was lying on the leaves. “I usually come to the RUINS because there's nobody around… But today i met somebody nice...Oh, i'm rambling again. I'll get out of your way.”

The ghost fazed out before you could respond. Standing up, you stretched out your legs. Reaching into you pocket, you pulled out the monster candy. You put it in your mouth, glad it didn't taste like liquorice. You immediately felt better, and when you tested it, your ankle was healed too. Walking over, you noticed two entrances. Despite your physical wounds, you were mentally exhausted. Leaning against the wall, you sat on the ground as you decided what your next option would be.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not completely happy with this ending, but if I didn't stop it there, it would have dragged on a bit too long for my liking.  
> Also took a stab in the dark with how Frisk's phone worked.
> 
> Tried to proofread this, but if I missed anything, just comment and let me know.


	5. Froggits are surprisingly confusing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You finish your exploration of the ruins, and learn some stuff that you really didn't get

Getting up, you looked at the entrance you could see a path coming out of. Filled with curiosity, you went towards it. Entering the small room, you noticed a sign and read it. ‘Spider Bake Sale. All proceeds go to real spiders.’ Looking at the wall behind it, you notice a smaller web and a bigger one. Going up to the smaller one first, a small voice spoke to you from it. “Leave 7G in the web?”

You looked into your small purse and laid out your coins. You had 30 in total, all from encounters from monsters. Counting out 7, you placed them in the web. In return, a spider crawled out and handed you a donut. Going over to the bigger web, you did the same thing but with 18G, getting a bottle of something in return. Somehow managing to fit them into your pockets, you exited the room and went up the other exit.

There was a sign, but after glancing at it and seeing it was about the bake sale, you ignored it for the Froggit next to it. Going up to it, you waved, gaining its attention. “Ribbit, ribbit.”

Looking at your phone, you read over what the Froggit said. [Sigh… My friend never listens to me. Whenever I talk, they skip through my words by pressing [X]. That's right....... Pressing [X]............................ Well, at least you listen to me.]

You were confused at what the Froggit meant, but noticed its attention had left you, and went to the next one along it. Chatting with it, you had a confusing conversation about how something called F4 was meant to stand for fullscreen or instead Four Frogs, but there was only three in the room. None of it made any sense to you.

Going up to the third, and hopefully final Froggit, you prayed that it wouldn’t be as confusing as the other two. “Ribbit ribbit.”

Checking your phone, you went through what he said. [I have heard you are quite merciful, for a human… Surely you know by now a monster wears a YELLOW name when you can SPARE it. What do you think of that?] You told him it was helpful, despite already figuring it out earlier. [It is rather helpful. Remember, sparing is just saying you won't fight. Maybe one day, you'll have to do it even if their name isn't yellow.]

You thought over this advice as you left the room. Absentmindedly, you answered the phone when it rang. It was Toriel talking about how you need to make sure not to carry too many items. Once you hung up, you walked into the next room, thinking about how you might have to spare someone that may not want to be spared. You were conflicted, from what you knew all monsters could be spared, and it scared you to think that there were some that were otherwise. However, you let out a silent yelp as you fell through the floor. With a sigh you looked up, only to notice the unstable flooring you had encountered multiple times before.

This happened five more times, each time coming back to ground level using that vacuum thingy. You met a few new monsters, figured out that green attacks can heal you, had a short chat with Napstablook, and found a faded ribbon, but it looked fabulous in your hair. It was the last one that you found the switch in, the top middle one, to lower the spikes at the doorway. And to be honest, you were glad. While it was fun exploring, you kinda wished it didn’t come at the expense of your body.

Walking into the next room, you noticed the strange layout of it. Spotting a sign, you stood on your tippy toes to be able to read it. ‘The far door is not an exit. It simply marks a rotation in perspective.’ That made no sense to you, at all. You were never good at riddles or stuff like that. Looking around the room, you noticed there were three colour mushroom looking things, but as the door to the next room was already open, you didn’t pay them much attention as you moved to the next room.

After you read the sign, which had the helpful tip of ‘If you can read this, press the blue switch.’, you looked, spotting the same mushroom things as before but one was missing. Exploring, you found the red and green switch, and after an encounter with Loox, you found the blue switch, pressing it, causing the spikes to retreat back underground.

You did the same for the red switch, sparing monsters and moving to the next room. This one was more annoying. With only the blue switch visible, and after finding out you needed to press the green switch, you went behind the column closest to the exit to test it, unable to see the colour in the shadows. It must of been the red one, as before you even got to press it, the ground beneath you gave out and you fell into a small room. With a huff, you got back up. Having to make your way back to the final room, you grew more frustrated. You felt sorry for the monsters you encountered during your trek back, as while you did not hurt them, you weren’t the most pleasant with them either. You just hoped you could apologize to them later about it.

Finally hitting the right switch, you made your way to the exit, leading you to a corridor, but with two paths you continued. You noticed one path with red leaves, and decided to leave that to last as you weren’t sure if it was a puzzle or not. Going straight down the corridor lead you to a small room with a Froggit in it. After it told you that Toriel could often be seen coming from here, you went through the small passage into was seemed like an overlook of the Ruins.

Something caught your eye, and you looked at it only for your eyes to widen. What seemed to look like a knife was just laying on the floor. Creeping your way over to it, you gulped. You had too much experience with knifes, mainly the receiving end, and fighting back against some foreign urge to pick it up and use it, you made your way back out of both rooms and into the corridor once more. You put a hand to your chest and took deep breaths. You didn’t like that feeling you had around the knife, and it scared you that you had no idea where it even came from.

Following the red leaf path, glad that it wasn’t another puzzle, you made your way to a large room. First greeted by a dead tree, you noticed behind it a small but cozy looking house. Footsteps caught your attention. Looking up, you noticed Toriel rushing to where you were, not noticing your yet. “Oh dear, that took longer than I thought it would.”

Hearing your phone ring, you were able to answer it when Toriel noticed your presence. “How did you get here, my child? Are you hurt?”

You looked over yourself, noticing all the scuffs and bruises from yoru falls and battles, and nodded. Toriel gave you a sympathetic smile. “There, there, I will heal you.”

Feeling a soothing energy flow over you, like green attacks would produce, you smiled at her, which seemed to make her relieved before it faded slightly. “I should not have left you alone for so long. It was irresponsible to try to surprise you like this.”

You knelt down to her level, and tilted your head, curious. She looked away, embarrassed. “Err… Well, I suppose I cannot hide it any longer. Come, small one!”

She lead you to the house, which you now realize was hers. On the way, you noticed another star. Making a slight detour over to it, you brushed it with your hand, determination filling you, as you followed Toriel into her home. 


	6. Time to continue foreward

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You find a home, but have to leave it. Goat mum doesn't like this.

Walking into Toriel’s house, you were overcome with warmth. Nothing stifling, in fact the opposite. It was welcoming and made you feel like you were at home, that you belonged here. The walls a pastel cream, the hardwood floors an earthy colour, reflected what you knew Toriel was so far. And you loved it.

Toriel turned to your with a smile, noticing your admiration of her house, even if it was just the little bit you’ve seen so far. “Do you smell that?”

You sniffed the air and nodded excitedly. You couldn’t place what it was, but you knew it was sweet and that it smelt obviously delicious. Her smile grew even wider. “Surprise! It is a butterscotch- cinnamon pie. I thought we might celebrate your arrival. I want you to have a nice time living here. So I will hold off on snail pie for tonight.”

You held back a face at this, you hadn’t had snails before but they didn’t really sound appealing. Though you felt weird about the fact of possibly living here. You could see yourself maybe one day, but right now, there was this gut sensation telling your that you had more to do, that your journey wasn’t over yet. Toriel didn’t seem to notice your drifting thoughts, and lead you down the corridor to the right. “Here, I have another surprise for you.”

She stopped in front of a door. “This is it…A room of your own. I hope you like it!”

Toriel patted my hand in a sign of affection. I smiled gently down at her, receiving a smiling just as warm and kind. She suddenly looked startled. “Is something burning...? Um, make yourself at home!”

She rushed off in what you thought was the direction of the kitchen, leaving you to your own devices. Going into the room that was now yours, you looked around, smiling softly at the layout. It looked much better than what you ever had, and immediately ran over to a box of toys at the end of the bed. Much to your disappointment, there wasn’t much in there that interested you, them all being for younger aged children, though you did grab a stuffed toy. You always had one, and it’s hard to break habits.

You sat on the bed and almost melted at how soft it was. Climbing under the covers, you rested your head on the pillow. It was so comfortable, and you felt so relaxed, that it wasn’t long before you fell asleep.

You didn’t know how long you were asleep for, but you eventually woke, feeling more rested than you ever have before. Sitting up, you rubbed your eyes, noticing the darkened room. Smelling the same thing you smelt earlier, you looked and saw a plate with a slice of the pie sitting on the ground. Carefully picking it up, you wrapped it in a napkin that it was sitting on, and placed it in a backpack that was sitting by the bed, as well as the rest of the stuff in your pockets.

Picking it up, you went back down the corridor and to the living room. You noticed in the room you first entered a staircase, but ignored it in favour of finding Toriel. Looking into the room, you giggled at the sight of Toriel nearly engulfed in the armchair she was reading in.

She must of heard your entry, because she looked over to you with a smile, the glasses and book just finishing off the image of a loving mother. “Up already, I see?”

You nodded, and tilted your head when you noticed her somewhat hesitant look. She took that as a cue to continue talking. “Um, I want you to know how glad I am to have someone here. There are so many old books I want to share. I want to show you my favorite bug- hunting spot. I've also prepared a curriculum for your education. This may come as a surprise to you...But I have always wanted to be a teacher...actually, perhaps that isn't very surprising. STILL.”

You giggled silently at her indignant look, which was soon replaced with a sheepish smile. “I am glad to have you living here,” She looked like she was about to go back to her book, so you got her attention. “Oh, did you want something?”

You thought about what to say before slowly signing to her that you wanted to go home. “What? This... this  _ is _ your home now. Um... would you like to hear about this book I am reading?”

You could tell this was a touchy subject for her so you nodded, giving her a chance to calm down. She smiled in relief. “It is called "72 Uses for Snails. How about it?” After receiving your confirmation she continued. “Did you know that snails...Sometimes flip their digestive systems as they mature? Interesting.”

You nodded, as it was somewhat interesting, but couldn’t get rid of that lingering feeling in the back of your mind. You asked Toriel how to exit the ruins. Her face showed a range of emotions, like she wasn’t sure what to feel, before settling on a blank one. “...I have to do something. Stay here.”

She left the room in a hurry, and you could hear faint squeaking, like stairs can be. You immediately follow after her, wondering where she was going. Entranced by the darkish corridor around you, you nearly bump into Toriel. She must of heard you but didn’t turn around. “You wish to know how to return  _ home _ , do you not? Ahead of us lies the end of the Ruins. A one-way exit to the rest of the underground. I am going to destroy it. No one will ever be able to leave again. Now be a good child and go upstairs.”

She moved on and you followed her, not sure how to feel. Why would she destroy the one door to the exit out? You stopped before bumping into her this time, as she spoke to you. “Every human that falls down here meets the same fate. I have seen it again and again. They come. They leave. They die. You naive child... If you leave the Ruins They...  **Asgore** ... Will kill you. I am only protecting you, do you understand? ...go to your room.”

She turned around a corner as you followed her. It was clear she was just trying to protect you, but to you this didn’t feel like protection, at least the protection you felt from her earlier. “Do not try to stop me. This is your final warning.”

You both soon reached a large gateway with equally large doors. Standing in front of it, she spoke to you in a sad yet even tone. “You want to leave so badly? Hmph. You are just like the others. There is only one solution to this. Prove yourself… Prove to me you are strong enough to survive.”

Looking at Toriel, you gulped as her back was turned to you, worried about what was coming next. What you didn’t except was your vision to go black as you entered the encounter state. You looked as she blocked the way to the exit. You quickly chose act and tried to talk to her, but despite everything she taught you, talking didn’t seem to be the answer to this situation.

You hurriedly dodged her flames, wincing when one or two accidentally burnt you. Caught up in your dodging, you didn’t notice Toriel’s look of pain each time one hit you. Desperately, you tried to spare her. She seemed to hesitate slightly in her attacks, so you continued to do this. She looked away from you. “What are you doing?”

Dodging her attacks, you spared her. “Attack or run away!”

Shaking your head, avoiding the fireball heading straight for it. “What are you proving this way?”

Dodging again, you tried and felt into one, holding back a cry of pain. “Fight me or leave!”

Toriel continued to just look more distraught each time you spared her. “Stop it.”

You dodged again, copping a few more fireballs. “Stop looking at me that way.”

You ate the Spider Donut, desperately needing to heal, and managed to dodge all the attacks. Sparing her again, Toriel’s face turn to one of pure pain and sadness. “Go away!”

Bracing yourself for an onslaught of fireballs, you were surprised when they parted around you. Toriel was looking at the ground, so it must of been a subconscious thing. “I know you want to go home, but…But please... go upstairs now.””

You spared her again, this time no fireballs showing up. “I promise I will take good care of you here. I know we do not have much, but...We can have a good life here.”

You frowned and shook your head. You knew that she was right, but at the same time this feeling made you continue on. “Why are you making this so difficult? Please, go upstairs.”

You stayed where you were. Toriel let out a defeated sigh, and an as equally defeated chuckle. “Pathetic, is it not? I cannot save even a single child.”

You looked at her sadly, wanting to go over to her but not being able to. “No, I understand. You would just be unhappy trapped down here. The Ruins are very small once you get used to them. It would not be right for you to grow up in a place like this. My expectations... My loneliness... My fear...  For you, my child... I will put them aside.”

The encounter faded out, leaving you and Toriel standing in front of the exit. Avoiding your eyes, she spoke in a saddened voice. “If you truly wish to leave the Ruins I will not stop you. However, when you leave… Please do not come back. I hope you understand.”

You could see she wanted to hug you, but the size difference was too much, so you picked her up and embraced her gently but at the same time tightly. Toriel seemed to have the same idea. She slowly pulled away and you set her down. She gave you a sad smile. “Goodbye, my child."

Walking off, she reached the entrance to the corridor before looking back longingly and then leaving.

Taking a deep breath, you strode through the doors, them opening up with surprise ease. Walking forward through a long corridor and then a final archway, you noticed a small patch of grass in a spotlight of sunshine. Taking cautious steps towards it, you froze on the spot as Flowey popped out of it, smirking sarcastically. “Clever.  _ Verrrryyy _ clever.”

You didn’t respond, just continuing to stare at him. He picked up on your nervousness and his smirk widened. “You think you're really smart, don't you? In this world, it's kill or be killed. So you were able to play by your own rules. You spared the life of a single person. I bet you feel really great. You didn't kill anybody this time. But what will you do if you meet a relentless killer? You'll die and you'll die and you'll die. Until you tire of trying. What will you do then? Will you kill out of frustration?”

His face distorted into a menacing grin, bringing a gasp out of you. You shook your head desperately. You had no intention of harming anyone, ever. “Or will you give up entirely on this world...and let  **me** inherit the power to control it?”

The grin had turned into a smirk again, but it was just as frightening. “I am the prince of this world's future. Don't worry, my little monarch, my plan isn't regicide. This is  **so** much more interesting.”

Cackling menacingly, Flowey disappeared into the earth, leaving you standing there frozen. It took a while for you to come to your senses, even then you avoided the sunlight patch in the middle. Reaching the giant archway at the end of the room, you took a deep breath and stepped forward, bracing yourself for whatever was to come next.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, sorry about the lack of chapter last week. I had a crap ton of school work due, and that was my main focus. But now I'm back on track, and will hopefully keep a regular update schedule.
> 
> Have this longer chapter as an apology as we finally reach the next stage.


	7. Sneaky silly skeletons

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You run into a few skeletons, and try not to let your laughter be your downfall.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next week's chapter may come out a bit later, as I have school camp, but I will try to get it done as soon as I come back, or maybe even before I go.

Everything you heard about hell was a lie. It was not hold. It was very, very cold, especially with torn and tattered clothes. You had braced yourself for what was coming next but you didn’t expect this.

Snow. Why did it have to be snow?

Wrapping your arms around yourself, you tried to hold back your shivers as you looked at the path ahead of you. With tall forests on either side, you couldn’t see the end of it. Taking a deep breath, you started to walk forward.

Nearly tripping over a large branch, you continued to walk only to jump at a loud crack. Looking back behind you, you saw the branch that you had nearly tripped over broken in half. Gulping, you ignored it and took shaky steps away from, shuddering when you thought you saw a shadow out of the corner of your eye following you.

You looking up at a large gate, shaky. While the bars were wide enough for you to go through, you were frozen on the spot, either from fear, or the cold, or something else. A low voice from behind you made you jump ramrod straight. “Human. Don't you know how to greet a new pal? Turn around and shake my hand.”

You did hesitatingly. Looking down, you noticed a small figure. You knelt down and shook it’s hand with a finger. A surprisingly loud farting noise filled the air. The figure in front of you chuckled, looking up to reveal a grinning skeleton. “heh, the old whoopee cushion in the hand trick…it's ALWAYS funny. anyways, you're a human, right? that's hilarious.”

You smiled nervously, still shaken up from the sudden fright. The skeleton seemed to notice this. “i'm sans. sans the skeleton. im actually supposed to be on watch for humans right now. but... y'know… i dont really care about capturing anybody. now my brother, papyrus…”

You tilted your head, curious and worried, though Sans didn’t seem to pick up on that. “he's a human-hunting FANATIC. hey, actually, I think that's him over there. i have an idea. go through this gate thingy. yeah, go right through. my bro made the bars too wide to stop anyone.”

You gave him a nervous glance but went through the gate. As you reached the other side, you could hear loud footsteps in the distance. Sans noticed it too. “quick, behind that conveniently-shaped lamp.”

You did so, carefully positioning yourself so that you wouldn’t give away your position or become uncomfortable. Being able to peek out just a tiny bit, you could see another skeleton, this one a bit bigger than Sans, wearing some form of armour costume and a bright red scarf, a complete contrast to the blue hoodie, black sweat shorts and pink slippers sans wore.

This new skeleton, who you assumed was Papyrus, look quite frustrated at something, rising your curiosity further. Sans was the first to speak. “sup, bro?”

Papyrus gave him an annoyed look. “YOU KNOW WHAT "SUP," BROTHER! IT'S BEEN EIGHT DAYS AND YOU STILL HAVEN'T… RECALIBRATED. YOUR. PUZZLES! YOU JUST HANG AROUND OUTSIDE YOUR STATION! WHAT ARE YOU EVEN DOING?!?”

“staring at this lamp. it's really cool. do you wanna look?”

You try not to panic at the fact that Sans is practically giving away your hiding spot. Luckily, or unluckily, Papyrus doesn’t seem to believe him, stamping at the ground in frustration. “NO!! I DON'T HAVE TIME FOR THAT!! WHAT IF A HUMAN COMES THROUGH HERE!?! I WANT TO BE READY!!! I WILL BE THE ONE! I MUST BE THE ONE! I WILL CAPTURE A HUMAN! THEN, I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS… WILL GET ALL THE THINGS I UTTERLY DESERVE! RESPECT... RECOGNITION… I WILL FINALLY BE ABLE TO JOIN THE ROYAL GUARD! PEOPLE WILL ASK, TO, BE MY, "FRIEND?" I WILL BATHE IN A SHOWER OF KISSES EVERY MORNING.”

You had to hold a giggle at how his tiny cape flew behind him. Sans seemed to think for a moment. “hmm...maybe this lamp will help you.”

At this point in time you were ready to strangle Sans. And by the looks of it, so was Papyrus. Stomping on the ground in anger, faster than before, just created little snow clouds rather than the effect he was going for, but it didn’t seem like he cared. “SANS!! YOU ARE NOT HELPING!! YOU LAZYBONES!! ALL YOU DO IS SIT AND BOONDOGGLE! YOU GET LAZIER AND LAZIER EVERY DAY!!!”

Sans had this look that made you realize you were in for a bad time, so to speak. “hey, take it easy. i've gotten a ton of work done today. a skele-ton.”

You covered your mouth to stop the giggles from escaping, the wink at the end of the pun nearly doing you in. Papyrus seemed to have a very different reaction, shouting out in anger. “SANS!!!”

“come on. you're smiling.”

“I AM AND I HATE IT!” You swear these skeletons were going to send you to an early grave from the laughter. Papyrus let out a deep sigh. “WHY DOES SOMEONE AS GREAT AS ME...HAVE TO DO SO MUCH JUST TO GET SOME RECOGNITION…”

“wow, sounds like you're really working yourself...down to the bone.”

You physically had to bite your cheeks to stop yourself from laughing. Papyrus just seemed to get more distressed. “UGH!!! I WILL ATTEND TO MY PUZZLES… AS FOR YOUR WORK? PUT A LITTLE MORE, "BACKBONE" INTO IT!!!! NYEHEHEHEHEHE HEHEHEHEHEHE!!!”

He burst out into a cackle that had no sort of malicious feel to it, and rushed off. You were about to let go of your restraint when he came back and gave sans one final look. “HEH!”

With that he left finally, and Sans looked over to you. “ok, you can come out now.”

You did so, and once you were free of the lamp, you fell to the snow in silent laughter. Looking over at Sans, you noticed the slight proud and happy look on his face, different from what you could tell as his normal smile. “you oughta get going. he might come back. and if he does...you'll have to sit through more of my hilarious jokes.”

You gave him a happy smile and nodded. While you did enjoy his jokes, you wanted to explore more. Just as you were about to move to the next area, Sans called out to you. “actually, hey... hate to bother ya, but can you do me a favor? i was thinking... my brother's been kind of down lately… he's never seen a human before. and seeing you might just make his day. don't worry, he's not dangerous. even if he tries to be.”

You nodded and gave him a double thumbs up. He gave a you a relieved and grateful, but somewhat guarded, smile. “thanks a million. i'll be up ahead.”

He walked in the direction you had come from, and vanished down the path. It confused you greatly, but the urge to explore was stronger, so you continued down the path. Finding another shiny star, you brushed it gently, the thought of meeting the skeleton brothers behind that convenient lamp filling you with the determination to make new friends.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's not as long as the other chapters, but it has more dialogue. I enjoyed writing about the two skelebros and can't wait for the later chapters.
> 
> A repeat from the top notes, next week's chapter may come out a bit later, as I have school camp, but I will try to get it done as soon as I come back, or maybe even before I go.


	8. Dogs and Puzzles

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You explore the snowy forest and play with the locals.

Brushing the white particles off your sweater, you shivered at the snow you missed slipping down it. Ice Caps and Snowdrakes were great, but the fact that they used ice based attacks did not help your plummeting body temperature. Luckily, you had put most of your things earlier into a box, so that now you could wrap your arms around yourself without any obstructions.

Following the path, you noticed the two skeletons in front of you, and held back a smile. It looked like they were having a conversation. “SO, AS I WAS SAYING ABOUT UNDYNE-”

You must of stood on something because Papyrus’ attention is drawn to you and his tiny eyesockets widen, how that happened you had no clue. He looked back at Sans, who looked at you, then vise versa. They continued this, drawing silent giggles out of you as they basically spun on the spot until they were both facing away from you. “SANS!! OH MY GOD!! IS THAT… A HUMAN!?!? !??!?!”

They both turned around to face you, and a mischievous grin took over Sans’ already normal one. “uhhhh... actually, i think that's a rock.”

Papyrus’ excited look fell off his face as you turned around to look at the rock behind you. “OH..”

You wanted to cheer him up, and by the looks of it, so did Sans. “hey, what's that in front of the rock?”

The taller skeleton’s joy grew as he noticed your presence. “OH MY GOD!!! (IS... IS THAT A HUMAN)”

“(yes)”

You held back laughs at their stage whispering, while for Papyrus it was probably normal, you had a feeling Sans was just going along for the hell of it. They both turned back to you. “SANS! I FINALLY DID IT!! UNDYNE WILL… I'M GONNA… I'LL BE SO… POPULAR!!! POPULAR!!! POPULAR!!!”

Standing there awkwardly, it seemed that the taller skeleton had forgotten your presence. At least, you thought he did until he looked back at you. He cleared his throat. “HUMAN! YOU SHALL NOT PASS THIS AREA! I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, WILL STOP YOU!!! I WILL THEN CAPTURE YOU! YOU WILL BE DELIVERED TO THE CAPITAL! THEN... THEN!!! I'M NOT SURE WHAT'S NEXT.”

You giggled at his confused face as he continued his little spiel. “IN ANY CASE! CONTINUE... ONLY IF YOU DARE!!!”

Papyrus burst out into his ‘nyeh heh heh’ laughter and ran off. You watched him, smiling happily. You really liked the excitable skeleton. Sans looked over at you. “well, that went well. don't sweat it, kid. i'll keep an eye-socket out for ya.”

He winked at you and walked after Papyrus. You rubbed your arms, a strong gust of cold wind shocking your body, as you followed the path. You reached a station and walked past it. However, you froze halfway when you heard shuffling coming from it. “Did something move? Was it my imagination? I can only see moving things. If something WAS moving... For example, a human… I'll make sure it NEVER moves again!”

You were dragged into a counter, seeing the dog monster, that you now know is Doggo, blocking your path. You checked his stats and giggled when you found out his hobby was squirrels. He tried to look for you. “Don't move an inch!”

A blue sword came towards you, and you froze in panic. It passed over you without causing any damage. You noted that for future reference. Going through your ACT options, you decide to pet him. Hopefully he wouldn’t attack.

Doggo loved it. His head whipped from the side to side as if trying to find you. “WHAT!!! I'VE BEEN PET!!!”

He sent out his next attack, but he was still whipping his head around, chanting several variations of ‘pat.’ Noticing his name as yellow, you spared him as soon as you could. The encounter faded out and you were left standing in front of the station. Looking over, you saw a tiny dog head peeking over the edge. “S-S-S-Something pet me... Something that isn't m-m-moving… I'm gonna need some dog treats for this!!!”

He disappeared back into the station, and you walked on, giggling to yourself. You were loving it here underground. Walking to the next area, you noticed Sans standing by an icy patch. You went up to him and crouched down. He looked up at you with his ever present grin. “hey, here's something important to remember. my brother has a very special attack. if you see a blue attack, don't move and it won't hurt you. here's an easy way to keep it in mind. imagine a stop sign. when you see a stop sign, you stop, right? stop signs are red. so imagine a blue stop sign instead. simple, right? when fighting, think about blue stop signs. remember... blue stop signs.”

You resisted the urge to facepalm and Sans and his incredible timing. You’re glad you didn’t gain any damage or you may have flicked the skeleton, gently of course. Stepping onto the ice, you wobbled as you made your way north. 

Pretty much as soon as you got off the ice, you were drawn into another encounter. A dog dressed up in armour stood in front of you. They were adorable. Finding out their name was Lesser Dog, you chose to pet them. You could have sworn their neck got a bit longer.

They let out a small bark as a few spears came towards you. You froze for the blue one and just managed to dodged the normal one. This continued for a while, and you couldn’t believe how big his neck had become. Maybe this was normal for monsters, but definitely not what you were used to. Finally sparing him, you watched him run off, and you continued forward.

After chatting to a lovely snowman, and promising to carry a part of him on your journey, you went back to the icy patch and slid towards the east. There was a big snowy field in front of you, and standing on the other side were the two skeleton brothers. It seemed they were in the middle of an argument. “YOU'RE SO LAZY!! YOU WERE NAPPING ALL NIGHT!!”

Sans looked up at him with a shit eating grin. “i think that's called… sleeping.”

Papyrus just looked more annoyed. “EXCUSES, EXCUSES!”

They both turned to you suddenly. “OH-HO! THE HUMAN ARRIVES! IN ORDER TO STOP YOU… MY BROTHER AND I HAVE CREATED SOME PUZZLES! I THINK YOU WILL FIND THIS ONE… QUITE SHOCKING!!! FOR YOU SEE, THIS IS THE INVISIBLE… ELECTRICITY MAZE!!! WHEN YOU TOUCH THE WALLS OF THIS MAZE, THIS ORB WILL ADMINISTER A HEARTY ZAP! SOUND LIKE FUN??? BECAUSE! THE AMOUNT OF FUN YOU WILL PROBABLY HAVE, IS ACTUALLY RATHER SMALL I THINK. OK, YOU CAN GO AHEAD NOW.”

You looked over the maze carefully, even though there wasn’t anything there. You took a cautious step forward and prepared for a shock when you heard a yelp from the other side. Looking over, you saw a smoking Papyrus. “SANS!!! WHAT DID YOU DO?!?!”

Sans looked torn between laughter and concern. “i think the human has to hold the orb.”

“OH, OKAY.” The taller skeleton walked over to you, handing you the orb. “HOLD THIS PLEASE!”

He made it back to the other side. You tried not to sigh when you noticed he had accidentally track the path of the maze in the snow. “OKAY, TRY NOW!”

You followed his footsteps and made it to the other side with ease. Papyrus looked amazed. “INCREDIBLE!! YOU SLIPPERY SNAIL!! YOU SOLVED IT SO EASILY... TOO EASILY! HOWEVER!! THE NEXT PUZZLE WILL NOT BE EASY! IT IS DESIGNED BY MY BROTHER, SANS! YOU WILL SURELY BE CONFOUNDED! I KNOW I AM! NYEH HEH HEH HEH HEH!!”

He ran off again, bringing a smile to your face. Sans has a similar look on his. He looked up at you. “hey, thanks... my brother seems like he's having fun. by the way, did you see that weird outfit he's wearing? we made that a few weeks ago for a costume party. he hasn't worn anything else since… keeps calling it his "battle body." man. isn't my brother cool?”

You nodded and smiled widely, giving him a double thumbs up. He seemed pleased with your answer. Giving him a wave, you walked to the next area, excited to find what was to come.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about the super late chapter. I had a school camp and thus got sick from it. Hopefully I should be back on the usual schedule.


	9. Nice Cream and Puzzles

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You explore more of Snowdin, and fall for some tricks.

The first thing you notice is a bright red and yellow vendor against the pale snow. Making your way over to it, you notice the despondent looking rabbit monster dressed in a similar looking out leaning against the umbrella. “I don't understand why these aren't selling… It's the perfect weather for something cold…”

You held back a giggle as you walked over to him. He looked up when you reached him, smiling when you waved in greeting. “OH!!!! A CUSTOMER!!!”

You smiled at his excitement. “Hello! Would you like some Nice Cream? It’s the frozen treat that warms your heart! Now just 15G!”

Slightly confused at how this was different from normal ice cream and nodded, gesturing that you wanted two. If they were like the rest of the monster food you had encountered, then they would probably heal you, and who knows when you may need that. The monster nodded and took out two, swapping them with your 30G. “Here you go! Have super-duper day!”

Putting them away, you waved goodbye to the vendor, and continued across a small wooden bridge. Noticing a large snowball in the middle of what seemed like a course, with a hole at the other end, you smiled. You had always wanted to play mini-golf. Maybe with some minor differences now but still.

You managed to only touch the ball a few times, carefully deciding on the route, as you guided the ball to the hole. Smiling in satisfaction as it went into the hole, you watched as a green flag popped out of it. You were handed 1G with a note attached to it.  _ ‘Your concern and care for "Ball" led to a delicious victory.’ _

Pocketing the gold, you made your way back up. You spotted blue by a tree and went over with a smile when you realize it’s Sans. Crouching down, carefully as to avoid the snow, you waved at him. He grinned back. “i've been thinking about selling treats too. want some fried snow? it's just 5G.”

You giggled and nodded. His grin seemed to get bigger. “did i say 5G? i meant 50G.”

You tilted your head before nodding again. You didn’t have that much money, but were curious to see where he went with it. “really? how about 5000G?”

You knew he was tricking you but nodded anyways. “50000G. that's my final offer.”

You held back a giggle and nodded. Sans’ eyes light up when noticing this. “what? you don't have the money? hey, that's okay. i don't have any snow.”

You let out the giggles at this. It was a good gag, in your mind, and the skeleton seemed to appreciate you liking it. Saying goodbye, you went to his left and investigated the His and Her’s stations before making your way down to the exit that was near the hole. You giggled as you passed a snow dodecahedron.

Walking forward, you noticed a small clearing with some sort of piece of paper in the middle of it. Sans and Papyrus were standing on the other side. “HUMAN!!! I HOPE YOU'RE READY FOR…” He blinked and turned to his brother. “SANS!! WHERE'S THE PUZZLE!!!”

Sans’ grin seemed more mischievous. “it's right there. on the ground. trust me. there's no way they can get past this one.”

You went up to the puzzle. Sitting in front it, you smiled at the sight of the word search. They were always your favourite. Doing the puzzle, you pouted when you realized that it was unsolvable. You put it back down and instead went over to the skeletons. Papyrus looked annoyed. “SANS!!! THAT DIDN’T DO ANYTHING!”

Sans just shrugged. “whoops. i knew i should have used today's crossword instead.”

“WHAT!? CROSSWORD!? I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU SAID THAT!! IN MY OPINION… JUNIOR JUMBLE IS EASILY THE HARDEST.”

“what? really, dude? that easy-peasy word scramble? that's for baby bones.”

“UN. BELIEVABLE. HUMAN!!! SOLVE THIS DISPUTE!”

You were so caught up watching their banter that you didn’t notice them turning to you until Papyrus’ last comment. You thought it over and gestured towards Papyrus, since he said junior jumble. His excitement turned up a notch as a grin flew onto his face. “HA! HA! YES! HUMANS MUST BE VERY INTELLIGENT! IF THEY ALSO FIND JUNIOR JUMBLE SO DIFFICULT! NYEH! HEH! HEH HEH!”

He ran off happily, leaving the two of you standing there. You looked at Sans, who was staring at you with a grateful look. “thanks for saying "junior jumble" just to appease my brother. yesterday he got stumped trying to "solve" the horoscope.”

You giggled and nodded. Waving the skeleton goodbye, you continued on, glad that by making one brother happy, you ended making both.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about a shorter chapter. I just wanted to actually get something out.
> 
> I'll try my hardest to make the next one longer and on time.


	10. Seriously, what's with all the dogs?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You find out more about dog marriage, the frustrations of puzzles, and the cinnabun named Papyrus.

You stretched as you noticed a shining star again, next to a plate of spaghetti and what you thought was a microwave. Seeing another mouse hole, you wondered if they were all conected. Going over to the plate, you noticed the spaghetti was frozen, as you read the note next to it. ‘HUMAN!! PLEASE ENJOY THIS SPAGHETTI. (LITTLE DO YOU KNOW, THIS SPAGHETTI IS A TRAP… DESIGNED TO ENTICE YOU!!! YOU'LL BE SO BUSY EATING IT… THAT YOU WON'T REALIZE THAT YOU AREN'T PROGRESSING!! THOROUGHLY JAPED AGAIN BY THE GREAT PAPYRUS!!!) NYEH-HEH-HEH, PAPYRUS’

Giggling at this, you brushed over the star, feeling the determination for not only the little mouse to reach the cheese, but also to get to know everyone more. Walking forward with a happy stride in your step, you reached a crossroads, so to speak. 

Going to the right, you walked down a path, ignoring the snow brushing over your feet. Reaching the end, you pouted at the spike gate blocking the way. With a sigh, you trudged back up to the top of the path.

...

You were stuck. Who knows how long it has been since you’d tried to solve the puzzle, and in between encounters, you couldn’t find any clues as to how to lower the spikes. Grumbling, you made your way back to the spikes. You stared at them, hoping that by doing that, they would go down on their own.

They didn’t.

Turning around, you kicked at the snow in frustration. You stared in surprise when the shifted snow revealed black lines underneath. Finally noticing the thinner patch of snow, you brushed it off carefully. Holding back a cheer when you realized it was a map, you spotted the red x in the top corner.

Skipping to the spot, you came to a small clearing in between two trees, and felt around in the snow with your foot. Feeling it press the button, you heard a faint click as the spikes sunk into the ground.

You happily made your way back over to it, glad that the puzzle was finally solved. Walking over the small wooden bridge, you suddenly stopped when you heard noises around you. Looking down, you notice two small hooded figures running in circles. “What's that smell? (Where's that smell?) If you're a smell... (... identify yoursmellf!)”

The two figures seemed to talked in sync. They stopped on either side of you. “Hmmm... Here's that weird smell… It makes me want to eliminate. (... Eliminate YOU!)”

You entered an encounter as the Dogi assault you. You decided to pet Dogaressa, since it seemed to work with the other dog monsters that you’ve run into. It didn’t work as Dogamy glared at you. “Don't touch my hot dog! (He means me...)”

Dodging their attacks, which caused you to lose a few health, you tried to pet Dogamy. That didn’t work either. Catching your breath, you tried to let them re-sniff you. Saying that you smelt weird, you dodged their axes. You were very reluctant to do this, but you dropped to the ground and rolled around, trying to mask your scent.

Your next turn, you let them re-sniff you. Their responses surprised you. “What! Smells like a... (Are you actually a little puppy!?)”

Holding back a smile, you pet Dogamy, who this time didn’t lash out. “Wow!! Pet by another pup!! (Well. Don’t leave me out!)”

Dodging the attacks, you pet Dogaressa the next turn. “What about me.............. (A dog that pets dogs... Amazing!)”

After one final dodge of their acts, you noticed that they had the yellow glow around them faintly. Glad this was over, you spared them as the encounter faded out. The Dogi were looking between you and themselves. “Dogs can pet other dogs??? (A new world has opened up for us...) Thanks, weird puppy!”

They walked off back to where they came from. You let out a relieved sigh and pulled out a nice cream. Licking it, you could feel your health come back as you walked to the next area. Noticing the puzzle and the sign, you went over to it and read it. ‘Turn every X into an O. Then press the switch.’

Looking over it, you stepped onto one of the X’s, watching as it turned into an O. You did the same with the other and pressed the switch. There was a click as the spikes went down. You spotted Papyrus standing by the spikes, as he turned to you once they were down, his face a look of shock. “WHAT!? HOW DID YOU AVOID MY TRAP? AND, MORE IMPORTANTLY… IS THERE ANY LEFT FOR ME???”

You thought about how you should answer this and nodded your head, hoping he wouldn’t take it the wrong way. He didn’t. In fact, his face lit up happily. “REALLY!? WOWIE… YOU RESISTED THE FLAVOR OF MY HOMECOOKED PASTA… JUST SO YOU COULD SHARE IT WITH ME??? FRET NOT HUMAN! I, MASTER CHEF PAPYRUS… WILL MAKE YOU ALL THE PASTA YOU COULD EVER WANT! HEH HEH HEH HEH HEH HEH NYEH!”

You watched as he went off, revelling in that pure look of happiness that he had on his face. Continuing on your way, you kept that look in your mind. It always made you happy to see others happy.

Noticing Papyrus standing by a tree, you went over and gave a small wave to him. He seemed to perk up in your presence. “HUMAN! HMMM... HOW DO I SAY THIS… YOU WERE TAKING A LONG TIME TO ARRIVE, SO… I DECIDED TO IMPROVE THIS PUZZLE… BY ARRANGING THE SNOW TO LOOK MORE LIKE MY FACE. UNFORTUNATELY, THE SNOW FROZE TO THE GROUND. NOW THE SOLUTION IS DIFFERENT! AND,AS USUAL, MY LAZY BROTHER IS NOWHERE AROUND.”

You giggled at this, causing the skeleton to grin sheepishly. “I SUPPOSE WHAT I AM SAYING IS… WORRY NOT, HUMAN! I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, WILL SOLVE THIS CONUNDRUM! THEN WE CAN BOTH PROCEED! MEANWHILE, FEEL FREE TO TRY THE PUZZLE  YOURSELF! I'LL TRY NOT TO GIVE AWAY THE ANSWER!!!”

You nodded and looked at the puzzle. It was a lot like the first one X’n’O, but more complicated. However, you were up for the challenge.

…

You were not up for the challenge. This was more annoying than that one with the map. But you still tried your hardest with it, cause you knew it would make Papyrus happy. You stood on the side closest to the spikes, trying to analyze it. You didn’t notice the skeleton’s nervous and worried look towards you.

Clapping your hands to get yourself together, you slowly walked out a path, holding back your excitement as it finally seemed to be working. Pressing the button, you heard the clink of the spikes going into the ground.

Making your way over to Papyrus, you saw the happy look on his face. “WOW!!! YOU SOLVED IT!! AND YOU DID IT ALL WITHOUT MY HELP...INCREDIBLE! I'M IMPRESSED!! YOU MUST CARE ABOUT PUZZLES LIKE I DO! WELL, I'M SURE YOU'LL LOVE THE NEXT PUZZLE THEN! IT MIGHT EVEN BE TOO EASY FOR YOU!! NYEH! HEH HEH! HEHEHEH!!!”

With this he went off on his merry way, leaving you watching contently. You could never feel sad around him. Crossing where the spike barrier was, you noticed Sans and went up to him. The skeleton grinned lazily at you. “good job on solving it so quickly. you didn't even need my help. which is great, 'cause i love doing absolutely nothing.”

Smiling, you waved goodbye to the short skeleton, happy that you were getting closer and seemed to be being accepted despite being a human from the two brothers.


	11. A/N

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just an update from the author

Hey guys,

I just wanted to inform you that I will be taking a break from this story for a few weeks or so. I've got some major school things coming up that I need to complete, and I need to put my whole attention into them.

I will be back, I'm not abandoning this. But it will be a few weeks till the next chapter is out.

I'll delete this A/N once I'm back with the new chapter.

Sincerely,

OtakusUnite

PS: are you guys actually liking this story, or would you prefer me to focus on my undertail requests?

**Author's Note:**

> So this is a joint AU I'm doing with a friend (who's on dA). Basically we imagined a tiny papyrus and it went spiralling from there.  
> I'll try to do a weekly update schedule, but knowing myself I wouldn't be surprised if it takes longer.  
> So apologies in advance, but hopefully you'll enjoy it anyways.


End file.
